


Desperate, warm

by plantboycharms



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, In that order it ends sad sorry lmao, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantboycharms/pseuds/plantboycharms
Summary: In which Alex goes to see Elliott, for some reason, for no reason, because he can't help himself, but he shouldn't have, perhaps.
Relationships: Alex/Elliott (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Desperate, warm

**Author's Note:**

> Idk where this came from we were literally talking about height headcanons and then?

When Elliott had moved into town, Alex hated him. He didn't know why. Something about this tall, long haired, willowy man just casually moving into a shack on the beach like it was nothing rubbed him the wrong way. He just stayed in there, doing God knows what, all day long. Sometimes he'd wander off of the beach and stare into the river looking contemplative, for no goddamn reason. It irked Alex to no end. And now every time he went to the beach to practice catching, he had to look at that stupid little shack and wonder if he was in there. Was he watching Alex out the window? It was possible. He always overdid it when he went to the beach, nowadays. 

Everybody seemed to like Elliott. They spoke kindly of him, Haley blushed a little when Alex brought him up, and his grandmother had only good things to say. Again, annoying. 

But for some reason, the night that he'd screamed at his grandfather and run out into the rain, that was where he'd ended up. Knocking on the door of the shack at too-late at night, trying not to look too soaked, despite being, well, soaked. 

Elliott, to his credit, was very welcoming.   
"Alex! Wh- well, come in! You're soaked. Let me get a towel, sit by the fire."   
He didn't say anything, just kicked off his shoes and shuffled over to the fire, sitting down heavily and shaking his head to get some of the water out of his hair. His clothes were freezing, but he hesitated, not sure if he should take his shirt off.   
"You'll dry off faster if you get the wet clothes off, you know." Elliott had reappeared, towel in hands, looking at him kindly. "I've got some spare clothes that might fit you, if you want."   
He looked away, uncomfortable with the eye contact, and nodded stiffly.   
"Alright." Elliott said, and vanished back to the closet door. Alex yanked his shirt over his head before he could chicken out and started toweling off his hair. Elliott turned around and stopped dead. Alex looked over, head in the towel still, and immediately flushed red. 

"Sorry, I'll-" Elliott started, looking away, as Alex said "oh, sorry, I-" and dropped the towel to wrap around his shoulders. Elliott had just been staring right at his bare chest, and the strange, uncomfortable feeling that crawled down his back was unfamiliar to him.  
"Here. Change into these. I'm sorry for looking, it was an accident and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Elliott said, leaving the clothes on the floor next to Alex and sitting at the desk, looking down at whatever he had there.   
Alex didn't say anything, just hurriedly yanked his pants off and pulled on the ones Elliott had left. They were too long, but dry and cozy, and once the shirt was over his head, he muttered a "thank you" and realized he was just absolutely freezing. 

"How do you live out here?" He asked, awkwardly, "it's so cold."   
"It is, isn't it?" Elliott responded, turning back from his desk. "I've only the one blanket, unfortunately, but, here," he stood and took Alex's wet clothes, hanging them over a drying rack and placing them next to the fire. He then grabbed the blanket from the bed and draped it over Alex's shoulders.   
He sat down, just far enough away that it seemed awkward, but Alex didn't know what to say or how to act, so he stayed silent, staring into the little fire, mulling over the night. 

Elliott was nothing if not respectful, but Alex noticed him shivering after a few minutes went by, and awkwardly, uncomfortably, embarrassingly, couldn't stop himself from saying "are you cold?"   
"Yes, but you're colder, I wouldn't dream of taking the blanket. You keep it." Elliott smiled at him then, and the same shiver ran down his back and he hated it, but did he? that he didn't stop himself from offering, "we could share, if you wanted." 

"I wouldn't mind if you wouldn't. You seem like you've had quite a night. Give me a moment and I'll take you up on that." And he stood up, busying himself with something that Alex couldn't see. 

When he returned, it was with two mugs of steaming tea.   
"Give it a moment, or you'll burn your tongue," he said, setting the mug in front of Alex and sitting down next to him. He already regretted the offer, but he lifted up the side of the blanket and let Elliott scooch in next to him. They were too close, much too close. Elliott's arm was warm where it pressed against his shoulder. He didn't want to think about that. 

They sipped their tea carefully in the warmth, listening to the crackling fire and the waves outside, and Alex thought. He thought until he couldn't stand thinking anymore, and then he blurted out "I don't know why I came here." 

Elliott just smiled.   
"I don't either." 

Right, yeah. He didn't, did he. 

Silence dragged on, because he didn't know what to say. 

"I got in a fight with my grandfather." Alex finally said, maybe by way of explanation, or maybe because he had to get it out.   
"He was watching TV and started to go off about gay people, and I don't know, it just bothered me, so I told him to cut it out and he asked me if I was… a fucking queer, he said, and I said no, I just didn't think it was right, and we started yelling and grandma was crying and I just felt awful and I ran out."   
Still Elliott said nothing, just waited.   
"I'm sorry I came here and interrupted your night. I just didn't know where else to go." He finished, lamely. It wasn't really what he was apologizing for, but it wasn't NOT what he was apologizing for. He didn't really know. 

"Well, I thank you for defending us. I'm sorry it put you in this position." Elliott leaned into his shoulder a little, just enough to wiggle him. He smiled down at him. (Had Elliott always been that tall? He thought.)  
"Us?" He asked, belatedly.   
"Well, the LGBT community, I suppose I meant." Elliott said, waving his hand dismissively.   
"So you're…" Alex trailed off, uncomfortable again, but confused about why. Abby liked girls, he knew, and Leah had an ex girlfriend in the city, but somehow it was different.   
"Yes, of course," he responded, tossing his hair over his shoulder, "I'm in high demand, you know, and I must be ready to supply." He winked at Alex, chuckling at his own joke, but his face dropped slightly as Alex stared.

"I'm not…. I'm not gay." Alex said, staunchly. Maybe he was trying to tell himself, more than Elliott.   
"I didn't say you were," he responded, softly.   
"I know, I just…" he breathed, realizing how close he was to Elliott's face, suddenly.   
"It's okay," Elliott smiled. "I know."   
And then he was leaning up, and Elliott was leaning down, and he was turning and Elliott was putting a knee on his other side, straddling his legs, and Alex was alight with something he couldn't name. His hands were gripping the collar of Elliott's shirt and Elliott's hands were warm and rough and everywhere, in a way that was so good he couldn't not sigh into his mouth, against his lips that were chapped ever so slightly but warm against his and oh God he was really here, he was really doing this. 

"Wait," he said, breathless, not wanting to wait. "This isn't why I came here, I-"   
"I know it isn't," Elliott responded, pulling back, and oh, he didn't want him to. "Do you want to stop?"   
He didn't.   
"I… no. No. I don't want to... stop. It's…. Please?" He choked out, letting one hand slide into Elliott's hair, the other creeping down his chest.   
Elliott just smiled and leaned back in, and oh thank God he did.   
It was a blur, laying back onto the warm wood next to the fireplace, Elliott situating the blanket underneath him, him nodding in a daze as Elliott looked him in the eyes and asked if this was okay, if it was what he wanted to do. It was very, very okay. Elliott was strong, and warm, and Alex was full and bursting with something he didn't understand, a feeling he didn't recognize. He didn't want to not be there. In Elliott's arms, by the fire, with the sound of the rain on the roof and the waves in the distance. 

He woke up, confused and disoriented, in a bright room, on a less-than-comfortable bed, with his head on Elliott's bare chest. He realized his own chest was also bare, their skin sticking slightly together. He blinked, remembering what they'd done, and his heart rate jumped. He was in Elliott's bed, next to him, in just a pair of boxers that weren't his. And it was morning. 

He sat up, fast, suddenly filled with anxiety. He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have. Why did he do that?   
He was angry, suddenly. Elliott had let him do that. Elliott had just done that. They'd done it. Well, they did it. Together. He was upset. He was angry. Why was he angry? He'd wanted it.   
His sudden movement had jostled Elliott, who was waking up and blinking in the sun and smiling at him and he was so upset now, seeing his soft face and completely mussed hair and how dare he?   
"Good morning," he said, still mumbling a little. "Do you want any tea? Or coffee? I can make some…" but Alex wasn't in a coffee mood. He wasn't in an anything mood. 

"No," he bit out. "No, thank you. I'm going. I have to go."   
"Why such a hurry?" Elliott asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and watching Alex yank his clothes, thankfully dry, off of the rack by the remnants of the fire, just embers now. 

"This didn't… this didn't happen." Alex said, gesturing angrily between them. "I slept on the floor last night. Okay?" He started to shove his legs into his pants, stumbling just slightly.  
Elliott sighed, and Alex felt something unpleasant stab through his heart.   
"I never kiss and tell, Alex. You don't have to worry." The smile on his face was gentle, but his eyes were sad. 

"I- well, good. Okay. Thanks for the… tea. Sorry. I'll… I'll go. Goodnight. Or. Good day. Bye."   
He pulled his shirt over his head and threw the door open, stuffing his feet into his shoes and letting it slam behind him. He winced at the sound of the windows rattling, but didn't stop. He just wanted to forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I told you it ended sad idk why I'm Like This lmao


End file.
